And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus
Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.
Comment: Jesus gave his twelve chosen apostles power and instructions. What did giving them power mean? As God’s Son did He give them the Holy Spirit and the gifts of preaching and healing which they hadn’t previously had? It sounds like that. We are not given the ‘how’ but we are given the ‘why’. They were to go into all the surrounding areas and preach and heal, casting out demons if/when confronted. Sometimes, being human, we say you can’t expect me to believe this until I understand it. I’m sorry but we’ll just have to continue on reading because the ‘how’ isn’t given here. Maybe as we read on we will get a better idea but it is simply stated that they obeyed their given orders and presumably were successful.
It would seem as if this sending out was successful because it got the attention of King Herod. Jesus was doing even greater things than John the Baptist, whom he had had beheaded. Had John been raised from the dead? Such a rumour was spreading. I wonder if Herod was scared, at any rate he wanted to see this man, Jesus.
Prayer: Please let me know what, and empower me to do what, you want of me in life, please God.
As I read it! 